My Never-ending Fairy Tail
by randmReader
Summary: The final war is over. Acnologia is defeated. But the cost to do so was too much. Natsu stands alone in the aftermath. But a powerful ally makes himself known and offers him a second chance, literally. Will he take the leap of faith to find his fairy tail? Follow Natsu and Fairy Tail in their next never ending adventure.
1. chapter 1

**Sooo, this is kinda like the very first writing attempt of any kind I have ever done. Expect a multitude of mistakes. And NaLu is something I absolutely adore. Hence the NaLuness if the fic. I'll be doing only one or two chapters as of now, I'll notify if I change my mind. So here goes, my take on the aftermath of the final battle and a little nagging story that has been haunting me for the past few days. Also I suck at writing summary's.**

Summary:

"The war is over, the true dragon king festival has come to an end. Natsu had emerged atop the defeated Acnologia. The war was won, but too many were lost. All his friends, the slayers, the guilds, fairy tail, all of them had sacrificed their magic and their lives to fuel the fairy sphere. But an unlikely and forgotten ally has come, offering Natsu a second chance. Will the slayer be able to save his friends and family this time around? Only time will tell, for Fate is a fickle mistress and fickle she truly is..."

The story :

Speak. He couldn't speak. No no that wasn't it. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't feel. He had done it, he had defeated Acnologia. He had done the impossible, Fairy Tail style. But for what? For the second time, no, the third time in his life, Natsu Dragneel was numb to the world. Sure they beat Acnologia, but the slayers had put everything they had in Natsu's final hit. All their magic. All their lives. And now they were gone. Cobra, Sting, Rogue, Gajeel, Laxus and their sweet little Wendy. Gone. Just like the rest of his friends. And if that wasn't enough, Natsu was forced to watch his friends disappear into ethernano, one by one. All the guilds that had helped them. All his friends that had helped them. Gone. Just like his family. Fairy Sphere had sucked their magic along with their existence to trap Acnologia. Nab, Reedus, Max, Vijeeter, Warren, Jet, Droy, Alzack, Bisca, little Asuka, Laki, Kinana, Macao, Wakaba, Romeo, Freed, Bickslow, Evergreen, Elfman, Mira, Lisanna, Levy, Cana, Gildarts, Gramps, Juvia, Gray, Lily, Carla, his little buddy Happy, Lucy. All gone.

Natsu choked. "Lucy." She was gone, just like the rest. His Fairy Tail was gone. Natsu was suddenly bombarded with intense pain.

"Lucy..." He wanted to scream, to shout, to cry, to do something. But he couldn't. He couldn't feel, couldn't breathe. He could still see her smiling face as she disappeared. 'Natsu, please don't forget us, okay? Please live on.' she had told him.

'Live on, yeah right.' What was the point? What was left? Nothing, that's what. Everything was gone. Everything except Lucy's keys.

"Lucy..." He breathed out. With shaking hands he scooped them up. He could still feel her magic in them. He could feel her spirits crying their heart out. 'How can I live on Luce? How can I, when everything I was had disappeared right in front of my eyes?' He mused. For the first time that day, Natsu felt his tears. Crying freely, he clutched her keys to his chest, as if relishing in their warmth for the last time. That's when he heard it.

 **'Swipe my key young one, feed it with everything you have and swipe, for I have seen enough death, seen enough sadness, that even my immortal self cannot take anymore. Swipe it slayer, so that you can once again see your friends, so that you can save them. Swipe it. Natsu.'**

Natsu was shocked still, "I can save my friends?" He asked to the air. Then he felt the magic, Lucy's magic, filling up a single broken key. "This Aquarius's key, what the hell is happening?"

 **'Swipe it Natsu, save them.'** The voice implored.

"Alright, I will. If I can see my friends again, if I can save them, all of them, then I'll do anything. You want me to swipe this key? Then I'll put everything I have into it, AND OPEN YOUR GATE!!"

With a scream, Natsu poured every ounce of his magic into the key and swiped down. And as if guided his Lucy, he screamed out, "SUBSTITUTE SUMMONING; OPEN THE GATE OF THE GREAT RULER, SPIRIT KING." The flash of golden light that followed was blinding, Natsu had to look away. When the light faded Natsu suddenly found himself pulled into a hug by the now human sized Spirit King. **"Natsu my boy, you have no idea how thankful I am for hearing my voice."**

"Moustache guy? I-I mean Spirit King? That was you? You can save 'em?" Natsu asked, no begged through his tears.

 **"No Natsu, but I can help you save them. I am the Spirit King. And I promise, I will help you save them, I will help you in seeing them again."**

Natsu would never be able to explain the profound happiness he felt at that instance for as long he lives. He fell to his knees, the dams breaking and cried, truly cried. "Thank you, thank you so much Mous-Spirit King. I'll do anything that you ask me to. Just please, let me see 'em again." Natsu choked out.

 **"I will gladly help you Natsu. This is the one thing I will never hesitate on. I owe Lucy at least that much. Now listen carefully young one, for the magic I am about to do is the greatest taboo in existence. But it should be possible with the intense amount of ethernano in the air right now."**

"Wait, wait, taboo? And what's with this ether thing? I don't get it. Should I know about these details?" The Spirit King sweat dropped. **"No need to rush slayer. Just listen to me with an open mind. There is only one way to truly save your friends, which I will now perform. With the help of the Stellar Memory which is under my command, and the mutated ethernano caused by the time rift, I will turn the flow of time by 400 years. Which pretty similar to what Zeref had in mind, but this world will not disappear. Instead it will fuse with the new time line, as your soul will fuse with that of the younger version of yourself."**

"But how does this help me? Dammit you told me you'll save 'em. Sending me back after turning back time won't help. I'm not- I'm not strong... I-I won't be able to-" he stammered.

 **"What's this?"** The Spirit King mused, **"Salamander Natsu of Fairy Tail not strong enough? Don't sell yourself short young one. You have already defeated the dragon king Acnologia, you can do it again. But this time you'll be stronger. You lived an entire lifetime gathering strength. You know the way by heart. Which means with enough time, you can be even stronger. Believe in yourself Natsu, just like how your friends believed in you. You can save them. I know it. She knows it. Lucy is waiting. Go to her."**

Natsu took a deep breadth. "You give one hell of a pep talk old man. Fine I'll do it. I'll save 'em. I swear it."

 **"Good slayer, now prepare yourself. Heed my words, bend to my will, with the power that I am, I command you. Oh Tetrabiblos... I am the Ruler of the Stars, the commander of its legions. Open the gate of the Stellar Memory, oh 88 Stars of the heavens, SHINE!!! TRUE URANO METRIA."**

Natsu watched in awe the spectacle that unfolded in front of his eyes. The Spirit King swung his sword deep into the skies, piercing through the clouds, opening up the world to the full might if the celestial realm. And then he struck the earth.

The last thing Natsu saw as the light engulfed him, was the smiling if his friends.

Chapter end.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back with the story. Whoopty do doooo. Anyway a loyal fan had told me that the first chapter was too fast (the fan is my lil sister, who is Soo totally not a fan ), so hopefully I made some headway in that department. Also the Spirit King doesn't have any major role in my mind so far, I just thought that I'd put that up beforehand. And since I completely forgot about this before, Fairy Tail ain't mine, capich? Now onwards to the story;**

Natsu was floating. He knew that much. What he was floating on? He had no freaking clue. One moment he was lamenting his existence and the next he was floating down a literal river of stars.

"This is the physical embodiment of the Stellar Memory." The Spirit King rumbled next him.

"The entire memory of the cosmos is in front of you. It almost feels surreal, even for me." Natsu looked into the 'river'. He could see everything that had happened to him. All the fun time he had in the guild. Messing around with Happy, getting in trouble with Gray, laughing with Lucy. Natsu felt a wave of excitement roll over him. He would be able to see them again. He couldn't wait.

"Hey King guy, how long do we have to stay here?" The Spirit King chuckled,"Patience Natsu, there is a number of things that we have to go over before heading out into the real world."

"Well then get this over with already, you can't expect me to wait forever. Lay em out." Natsu barked out.

"Very well. The first thing we have to go over is the fact that once the time stream settles, you will become E.N.D again." He said in a grave voice.

"WHAT?! What do you mean I'll become E.N-ugh, stupid, turning back time. Of course I'll be E.N.D again. But will be able to go back being human? I like being human sooo..."

The Spirit King silently chuckled and spoke.

"You do not have to worry about that Natsu. You'll be able to become truly human quite sooner than you think. It will also enable you to save a large portion of Lucy's early life from a pain you could never truly stop before."

"I really don't get it but if it means I can make her happy then I'm cool with it." Natsu grinned, feeling light hearted again after quite a while.

The Spirit King smiled at him softly, and looked ahead. "I had told you before that this, what we are doing, was a taboo. I will have to pay the price for breaking this taboo. Once you are reunited with Igneel I will no longer be able to help you in this Natsu. My powers will be sealed as punishment, and I will not be able to perform a number of important things I had done before. "

Natsu looked him in the eyes and spoke with the same infamous determination, "Then I'll just have to do them for you. Right old man? "

"That's right Natsu. The first thing you'll have to do is to find Leo's key. I'm sure Lucy already told you about his past as another's spirit. You have to free him of his contract before his previous contractor dies. The second thing you'll have to do is to find a way to dispel the Plutogrim curse, Alegria." The Spirit King said.

Natsu looked him square in the eye and with a determined sigh, nodded his head.

"I'll do it. One way or another, I'll do it."

The Spirit King sighed and smiled, "I believe in you young one. Hold onto that key. With it I'll be able to contact you anytime. I won't be able to help, but I can give good advice." There King said with a cheeky smile, which Natsu promptly returned.

"I'll hold you to it old man. But I'm warning ya. I'm fairly stupid so I'll be ringing you up a lot. And what the-" Natsu watched in startled alarm as the keys he held in hand glow and slowly disappear. "Wait what's going on, oye old man. Lucy's keys. Their going away."

"Relax Natsu, it means that we are simply reaching our destination. In a few moments you'll be reunited with Igneel. Tell him everything, but keep quiet to everyone else, understood? The lesser people know the better." He warned.

"Got it old man, I'll keep my mouth shut. But what about the me being E.N.D thing?"

"I will contact you in due time Natsu. It seems our time is up. Quite ironic don't you think?"

"I guess so. Thank you old man, for doing this for me. For us. I know that you didn't have to. I just- thank you. Thank you."

"I will do it all over again if I had to young one. Now go, your fairy tail awaits. Good luck dragon slayer. You will need it and a lot more."

Natsu shot him his trademark grin, "Aye Sir!"

And then his world was engulfed by light ones more.

Natsu woke up to thunder and earthquake, or as Natsu likes to call, Igneel's morning voice.

"Natsu wake up! Stupid brat, sleeping in on training day. Wake up Natsu, or I won't take you flying. Do you here me?" Igneel pretty much roared.

"Ugh, shut up Igneel. I need my sle- Igneel? Igneel!" Natsu shouted in glee as he glomped the great dragon's snout.

"I can't believe it actually worked!" Natsu spoke between restrained tears. "I can't believe you're here. Dad, I missed you so much." Natsu choked out.

"Natsu slow down, what's wrong son? Can't believe what worked? And what do you mean not being able to see me again? As far as I remember, we saw each other yesterday. " Igneel asked.

Natsu swallowed his excitement as much as he could. " A lot happened Dad. I'll explain everything, just promise me that you'll keep an open mind, okay?"

He swallowed once more, and rushed out, "I don't have any easier way to say this but, I'm from the future Dad. Or I guess I am, the Spirit King said something about fusing the timelines and-"

"Natsu! Stop talking to yourself. And explain, slowly." Igneel barked out.

And explain Natsu did. He talked about how his life had unfolded after Igneel had presumably left, he told him about Fairy Tail, all the adventures he had, all the time he had literally saved the world. He spoke about his friends, about how amazing they were, about their strengths, about their weaknesses. Then he spoke about the war. How he'd defeated Zeref, how he'd beaten Acnologia, how he had lost everything in the process, and how he came back to save them for real.

Igneel couldn't believe it, any of it. His little brat of a son was talking about a life he should never have known of yet. He said he had defeated Acnologia. The dragon king himself. At that very moment, he felt proud, proud of his young student, his child, proud of his teachings, and proud of the man his son had become.

"Natsu, I'm so sorry, I- I don't have any words for what you had lost. But I will tell you this, I am so proud of you my boy, so very proud. I understand what you're trying to do, and I will help achieve your goals. You saved the world once, you will do it again, I guarantee it. Or my name is not The Great Fire King Igneel."

"Thanks Dad," Natsu sniffed, "The fact that you believe in me too, means a lot to me." He said with a grin. A grin Igneel returned with gusto.

"Silly boy, I never doubted you in my life. Now I'm sure you have a lot to say. So lay em at me. I want you here everything detail of my son's life. And especially about this Happy and Lucy."

Natsu's grin widened, "Sure thing Dad! Now where do I begin?"

Chapter end


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back again! Sorry about the week long hiatus, but real life came knocking on the door in the form of unpayed internet bill. Anywho, I just wanted to apologise for the myriad of mistakes the last chapter had (my fault entirely, but I'm blaming autocorrect) because I kinda didn't proof read. He he, umm so back to the story I guess. Also don't get any hopes up about E.N.D. I plan on taking care of that debacle on the most convenient way possible ('cus why not!), as soon as possible. Also I don't know how to page break. There! Are ya happy now? Onwards with the story, riddled with poor grammar and writing skills :**

* * *

Seeing Igneel again gave Natsu the final grounds for coming to terms with the fact that he had travelled back in time. Igneel for his part, accepted the circumstances easily, and pretty much jumped into training. Natsu will never forget the face Igneel made when he saw his pipsqueak of a son perform the Demolition Fist on a poor rock, albeit a low powered one. If Natsu thought seeing Igneel made him happy, seeing the slayers again had him choking on tears. Not that he had cried, damn metalhead would never let it go. All the first generation slayers, back together once again, and this time they'll stay together. Gajeel, Sting and Rogue where just like he remembered. Headstrong and stubborn, but with a hint of childish innocence. Oh who was he kidding? They were adorable, even Gajeel with his ugly mug! Such a shame he'd grew up to be super super ugly, unlike yours truly. But what had Natsu reeling from cuteness overload was little Wendy. The simple fact that she had only begun to learn how to speak, and had taken an unfair amount of fascination in calling him 'Natsu-nee' was enough to floor him, thoroughly. Yes sir, little Wendy Marvell had Salamander Natsu beat, with sheer cuteness.

Seeing Anna-sensei again was also a sucker punch to his gut. They looked so similar. So damn similar. But he had other things to worry about. Seeing that Natsu had all but mastered the art of Fire Dragon Slaying, Igneel made it his personal mission to help Natsu master the Blaze King Mode. Something that just wasn't happening yet.

"Damn it! This used to be so much easier!" Natsu cursed for the 100th time.

"Patience you stupid brat! The form you're trying to master isn't cake walk. The simple fact that you're too young itself will affect your training, badly."

"But Dad, I had this in the bag last time!"

"Last time was a lifetime ago Natsu. Now focus on training."

"Grrr... This would have been so much easier if I still had Laxus's lightning. " Natsu grumbled, but was suddenly aware of his shell shocked father.

"Igneel? What's wrong?"

"You-you were able to consume an element other than fire?" Igneel asked incredulously.

"Well yeah, I guess. But I got sick though, kinda like the time I ate that ether-something cannon back in the Tower of Heaven shitstorm. I think Jellal said it was a perfect fusion of 4 elements? I don't know."

"You ate the Etherion Cannon's magic?" Igneel squeaked out. "But wait, this actually makes sense! The slayers are able to consume more than just their respective elements. Then Acnologia became this strong by consuming the elements of all the other dragon's he defeated. He killed so many, he's practically immune to magic." Igneel slowly turned to Natsu, "If that's the case then, another slayer with similar circumstances would be able to counter Acnologia's immunity. Natsu, we could easily take out that bastar-"

"No Dad, I won't do something like that. I know where you're going with this old man, and I refuse. No way in hell." Natsu said as he shook his head.

"Natsu think about it. If we do this, you'll be strong enough to take Acnologia out without sweat."

"You don't understand Dad, whe-when I use Laxus's lightning, it feels good. Really good. Almost as good as Dragon Force, but without the dulling effect that comes with it. When I kick it on, I don't want to turn it off. And if just one element can make me feel like this, then-" he trailed off.

"I guess I didn't think about that." Igneel pondered. "Sorry about that kiddo, it's just-"

"It's okay Dad, I understand. I-" Natsu was interrupted by a deafening roar.

"What the hell!?" Natsu screamed out.

"It seems our hideout has been discovered. Natsu find the rest and hide! We'll take care of this." Igneel barked out with a deadly glint.

Natsu didn't even wait, he ran to the other slayers. Their respective parents were already gearing up for the fight. Rounding up the slayers, he ran to the cave where Anna-sensei was ready with a shield spell. He could hear the dragons fighting. He hurried the slayers into the cave, but before he could go inside himself, he was hauled up by a flaming claw. He could hear Anna-sensei screaming his name along with the rest of the kids, but he couldn't help but grin at the familiar face grooming back at him, "Yo! Long time no see Uncle Atlas!" He said with a face splitting grin.

"Natsu Dragneel, it hasn't even been four days." Atlas grinned out.

"Natsu!" Anna Heartfilia screamed. 'No no no this wasn't happening! They weren't supposed to find us so early.' Anna's mind chanted. "Let him go!" With a snarl Anna launched herself at the dragon that had snatched Natsu, keys brimming with magic. She could hear Wendy's terrified sobs and the rest of the kids trying to stop her tears. But she had to focus on Natsu.

"Yo! Long time no see Uncle Atlas." "Natsu Dragneel, it hasn't even been 4 days."

Wait, what?

"Natsu? You know this dragon?" Anna said as she literally screeched to a halt, just shy of the dragon's flaming talons.

"Yeah, he's my Uncle! Say hi Uncle Atlas, this is Anna Heartfilia, our teacher." Natsu beamed down from the dragon's claws.

"Who's your Uncle ya brat! I'm not related to you..." Atlas grumbled. And then proceeded to sidestep a cartwheeling Zirconis, and turned around to see a still fuming Igneel.

"Hey Igneel, how's it going?" Atlas greeted with a shit-eating grin.

"What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On.?" Igneel snarled.

"Oh nothing, I just thought that I'd drop by, see the brat again, seeing he travelled through time and all. It was Zirconis who tracked you down though. Said something about a tricky smell he'd never forget. Motherglare and the rest was all to happy to hunt the humans who controlled them and what? Why are you all looking at me like that?" Cue the screaming trio..

"You know I travelled through time?", "You know he travelled through time?", "You travelled through time?"

"Well yeah, I guess. I mean he smells exactly the same. Not realistically possible. He also smelled a little like that damn Eclipse gate. And since I already did travel through time, I guess he just gave off this freaky, time travel-y aura. " Atlas nervously explained.

"Well I guess that explains it." Natsu nodded along with Igneel, whole the rest sweat dropped. Except for one particular blonde.

"You travelled through time?!"

"Oh crap"

* * *

Explaining Natsu's circumstances to Anna Heartfilia was an extremely amusing, albeit painfully loud endeavor. Painfully loud as Anna had screamed like a madman before calming down for the explanations' encore.

"You look like a fish Anna-Sensei. " Natsu chirped at the blonde.

"Wha-what, b-but, ho-how"

"Dad, I think we broke her." Natsu edged closer to her and started poking her face. Igneel, for his part sweat dropped.

"Yo sensei, you there?"

"Natsu stop it!" Anna managed to squeak out.

"Stop teasing her brat. We have other the things to do." Atlas grunted.

"Like what?"

"Like you eating a big helping of my hell flames."

"Oh! But... Why?"

"Saw the crap you'll go through. The Eclipse Gate is weird like that. Figured you could use all the help you'll get."

"Thanks! You're the best Uncle Atlas!"

"Whose your uncle brat!?"

"H-he travelled through time..."

"Oh boy..." Igneel sighed.

* * *

Atlas had departed after lending Natsu a very big helping of his flames, which he had devoured without any delay. Turns out filling the empty magic container that housed Laxus's lightning with draconic hell flames was just the power boost Natsu needed.

"Blaze Dragon King's Demolition Fist!" Natsu bellowed out. What followed was a deafening explosion that towered over the forest in a fiery dome.

"Not bad Natsu, though the power output faltered before impact." Igneel said while inspecting the carnage.

"Gimme a break old man. This ain't easy ya know!" Natsu grumbled.

"Easy Natsu, you're already close to mastering this. You just need time to mature." Igneel rumbled in a sage like voice.

"I know Dad. It's just. Well we have to use the gate soon don't we? I just want to make sure I'm strong enough." Natsu said. Igneel chuckled as he lowered his head to lightly bump Natsu in his chest with his snout.

"You are strong, my son. Stronger than I could have ever hoped. And I promise you, you will save them." Igneel breathed out in Natsu's hair, ruffling it.

"Trust yourselves, as we do. I'm so proud of you son." Igneel said with glistening eyes.

"Dad. I-I" Natsu began, "Thanks Dad, you're right, I can do this. I'm all fired up!" Natsu screamed out making Igneel chuckle.

"Good, that's my boy. Now back to training, those mountains won't smash themselves."

* * *

Chapter end


End file.
